The Ugliano Family
by time210
Summary: In which Sally Jackson died and Gabe Ugliano raises Percy as any well as any other deadbeat.


**Story was originally written in a qst format so it might sound kinda weird.**

Percy stared at the book with the expression of abstract confusion on his face. After a long frustrating moment trying to decipher the floating English words, he gave up actually reading the book, slamming it shut loudly.

When his English teacher, Ms. Nell, gave him a warning glance, the boy huffed in exasperation and tried to give the pretense he was actually focusing.

" I promised mom to try harder. Got to keep my word." thought Percy. However, his pupils swerved left and right almost involuntarily as if to avoid focusing on one action.

Unfortunately, his English teacher immediately noticed this. Perhaps if Percy wasn't branded as a troublemaker early on the semester, Ms. Nell would had to been more emphasizing in her response due to the boy's ADHD.

But his quirks apparently pushed the teacher's patience to a limit. " Ugliano! Stop daydreaming! Focus on the classwork." she reprimanded.

Some of Percy's classmate snickered at the admonishment. He noticed that they'd whispered to each the word Ugliano in a giggling manner as if it was a joke that the last name even existed.

Immediately his mood plummeted, as he was once again reminded that he was stuck with the last name of his shitty step-dad Gabe Ugliano AKA " Smelly Gabe". Also, there was a factor that at the point in time, Percy was still naïve enough to care about his peer's opinion of him.

The boy's face flushed in embarrassment and he immediately began considering to just ditch class or throw the book at those that are laughing.

" Don't let them get to you." the boy thought to himself but was unable to fully relax in the presence of his peers laughing at him. His anger still simmered but it no longer threatened to consume his mind like it has done so often recently. No thanks to Gabe no doubt.

In a burst of determination, Percy once again attempted to read the chapter assigned for classwork. He tried to keep his focus on the words in the page but like before, but it was a complete failure.

The preteen tried to remember that he had made a promise to his mother to do better in school to fuel his willpower. Before her death she had...… Percy stopped his trail of thought because he knew where it would end up. He didn't want to be made fun of for being a crybaby.

After five more minutes Percy gave up again. He'd thought despairingly that if he hadn't learned how to read from preschool to 4th grade, then what are the chances he would learn now?

Percy's failure had him grabbing his hair out of seer frustration. "Aaaargh." he though. "Why is this so hard?"

He looked around him. Maybe he should just ditch class or...

….go ask the teacher for help. "That's what they were for after all, right?" the boy thought nervously. Maybe he could just say that he is a better auditory learner than a visual one. Or he didn't take his ADHD meds. In truth he did, but they didn't help at all for some reason.

Percy raised his hand to attract the teacher's attention.

" What is it?" Ms. Nell said curtly.

" I need some help reading this chapter. It's difficult for me."

The preteen resolved to leave out that he didn't understand a single word on the book. No need to give his taunters more ammunition. Percy didn't want rumors circulating that he was completely retarded.

For the rest of the class, the English teacher helped Percy read the rest of the chapter word by word. The boy's great reliance on the teacher might have encouraged even more jeers, but the proximity of the latter dissuaded them.

When the bell rang, the students began packing up and leaving. Ms. Nell made a parting statement to Percy that she was glad he asked for help when he needed it.

However, her monotonous voice and apathetic expression made it clear it clearly she was anything but "glad" about helping the kid.

The teacher's indifferent nature might have stemmed from Percy attacking her son who went to this school. The boy had thrown a metal water bottle at the back of her child after a heated argument. No one knew what the topic of the argument was cornering, but apparently it was a sensitive topic that caused Percy to go on a frenzy for a few moments.

The back of the teacher's child was red from the hit and Ms. Nell advocated to suspend Percy. The latter was not suspended which greatly peeved the teacher and caused her to hold a grudge against him.

That was one of the many fights that had occurred throughout the school year for Percy. At this point, he doesn't give a shit. Living with Gabe had desensitized him.

As the boy got his backpack and got out. He considered what to do. Go home to his deadbeat step-father Smelly Gabe or …


End file.
